Maoist arrested in Pune is former diplomat’s son

Kochi: The  outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) suffered yet another major blow with Maharashtra’s anti-terrorist squad arresting Murali Kannempilly from his hideout in Pune. The arrest of Mr Kannempilly, considered a top ideologue of Maoists, five days after another Maoist leader, Mr Roopesh, and his associates were picked up from Coimbatore, will cripple the movement, sources said.

The ATS arrested him along with another activist C. P. Ismail from Morya Hospital in Talegaon Dabhade, 33 kms away from Pune on Friday morning. They were presented before the additional sessions judge S.V. Mane on Saturday and the court remanded them to police custody for seven days. The two were presented with their faces covered. When Mr Kannempilly was taken to the court from the ATS office he told reporters, “I am a member of CPI (Maoist) and my arrest is illegal”.

Kerala director general of police (DGP) K. S. Balasubramanian said that he had not received any official intimation about the arrests. Mr Kannempilly, son of former diplomat Kannempilly K. Menon, became active in the Naxalite movement in the mid-70s when he was a student of the Regional Engineering College in Kozhikode.

Taken into custody in 1976 by the Crime Branch, he was in jail during Emergency. After his release, he became a full-time party activist and was associated with CRC-CPI-ML till the early 90s. After the dismantling of the group, he was instrumental in the formation of CPI-ML (Naxalbari) along with S. A. Rawoof of AP and became its secretary.